Spark in the Night
by justawriter97
Summary: Between the death of his parents and the deception of his brother Sasuke Uchiha can no longer see the use in life, though, as his senior year of high school begins his entire world view is turned on its head when he's forced to rent out a room in his house to an unfortunate classmate. Can Naruto bring his friend out of the darkness in time to save his life?
1. Chapter 1

_Hello, it's me again. I would just like to say that__** I do not own Naruto or anything affiliated with it.**_ _Now that the prerequisites are out of the way I would like to say that __**this is a yaoi story**_**.**_** In no way shape or form do I condone cutting suicide or rape. If you do not like this kind of story by all means go read something else. **__This is rated M because of strong use of language and adult themes._

_Please enjoy._

Chapter 1: Just His Luck

The story of a life no one wants to have. A tale of sorrow and pain and fear lived and relived day after day. A horrible nightmare than never ends, _this_ is how Sasuke Uchiha would describe his life had anyone ever asked him to. School was tiresome, his friends were jackasses, home was enough to make him want to die and to Sasuke that was just the tip of the iceberg.

Sasuke strolled casually through the pale green halls of Konoha's public high school, weaving his way through the familiar corridors to someplace he'd spent more time in than the actual classrooms themselves. As he rounded a corner he was met with a few girls crowded around their lockers gossiping and fixing their makeup. They hollered hello to him only to be flatly ignored with a roll of his eyes. Surely they had something better to do than skip class and wait in the hallway all day for him to walk by.

At the end of the hall Sasuke barged through the door on which rested a plaque that read _Office_ and another which read _Principal_. He didn't wait for the receptionist to announce him; he was such a regular customer that no one would be surprised to see him. Even though he had been called to the office during first period he'd just come in during the beginning of third, no other students were in the office at that time every day, no one to mock him, and no one to give him that look of awe and disapproval and fear all mixed into one. He hated that look.

He sat down in the sole chair that had been placed before the great oak desk of the principal and crossed his arms over his chest impatiently. Principal Tsunade stared back just as annoyed while Director Sarutobi looked on sympathetically over her shoulder. Since Sasuke couldn't be expected to be sorry for what he'd done Tsunade sighed and leaned her elbows on her desk to begin.

"Sasuke," said Tsunade, "do you know why you're here?" Sasuke said nothing but stared straight ahead. He hated their beat-around-the-bush shit.

"It's because you were caught fighting on campus. Again." Tsunade looked over her shoulder at Sarutobi before continuing, "The Director and I have been discussing what to do with you. It seems as though giving you detention hasn't taught you anything."

_That's because it hasn't_. Sasuke thought sourly.

"We think that what you need is some responsibility to occupy your mind from any sort of destructive behavior and so, to eliminate two of the problems we've been facing recently, we've decided to present you with a choice."

"Your first choice is that from now on each altercation you get in with other students or staff goes on your permanent record which gets sent to any college you want to attend," Sasuke scowled at her, "and your second is to open up your home to one of your fellow classmates… as your roommate."

Sasuke's eyes shot up in concern and anger. "No." he growled.

"Yes," retorted Tsunade, "if you want us to sweep this fighting thing under the rug and keep it from your permanent record you will do as we say and take the damn roommate without a fight!" she slammed her fist on the desk causing the two men in the room to jump. Tsunade sighed and ran a hand through her pale blonde hair; she really needed to get a handle on that temper of hers once she started yelling at students. She started again, calmer.

"He was kicked out of his apartment recently and has no place to go. We thought he'd be a good fit for you because he lived alone too, he knows what it's like. If you want us to go ahead with ignoring your behavior here at school you will house him this entire year until the two of you graduate. Is that so hard?"

Sasuke hissed a string of curses under his breath. His nose wrinkled in displeasure and he glared at the both of them. Tsunade beckoned for Sarutobi to go, he returned a moment later with the exact same blonde ignoramus Sasuke'd punched earlier that day. The exact reason why he was being punished in the first place.

"Hi!" the guy beamed beneath the plethora of bandages and bruises on his face, "I guess we're going to be living together for a while, you and me!"

"Shit."


	2. Chapter 2: Nature of the Beast

Chapter 2: Nature of the Beast

He didn't make up any rooms, clean the house, or buy any more food. The only thing Sasuke did in anticipation for his new "roomie" was put locks on his bedroom door and the fridge.

Sasuke stalked lackadaisically down the stairs to get the door when the sound of the bell reverberated through the empty house. It took him a moment – hand on the knob – to let Naruto in. He was still trying to think of a way – any way – out of the situation; still unable to come up with one he sighed and swung the door open to face what he would describe to be his doom.

Naruto Uzumaki stood in the door with a single duffel bag wrapped in his arms and a dumb blissful smile on his face. Sasuke could still see a yellowish bruise where his fist had met with the blonde's face the previous day. For a moment the two of them stood there as Sasuke sized him up.

_He's scrawny and seems stupid and – oh god what's that smell?!_ Sasuke wrinkled his nose in distaste and retreated back into his home leaving Naruto standing in the door.

Taking this as an invitation Naruto strode into the house dragging mud in on the shoes he'd forgotten to take off and dumped his bag on the nearest couch before flopping down into the adjoining armchair.

"Can you believe it?!" he smiled over his shoulder at Sasuke who kept his distance from his classmate, "It's been a hard four years at Konoha but we're seniors already! Where are you going to college Sasuke?"

The raven raised a single thin brow questioningly. He hadn't known that he and Naruto had attended the same school for more than a year; Sasuke had never noticed him before. He was nobody. Naruto leaned back in the couch and propped his feet up on the coffee table in front of him nearly knocking a vase to the ground.

"Don't do that!" Sasuke hollered. Naruto immediately jerked his feet away from the table and stood up.

Pleased at the blonde's obedient reaction Sasuke continued barking orders. "And take your shoes off at the door next time, the carpet may be dark but that doesn't mean I want you to track dirt on it. Also, watch where you're going, I don't want to have to follow around behind you cleaning up my shattered family heirlooms!" Sasuke's mouth twisted into a smile. He liked telling Naruto what to do and besides, he would have to learn the rules of the house if he wanted to live there.

"I expect you to make your own food, keep your things together in one spot, wash each dish you use, clean the tub after you've used it and make absolutely no noise after eight. I won't be buying you anything so you'll have to get a job if you want to eat and no, I won't help you with your homework now or ever. Just because I'm letting you live here doesn't mean I like you." He felt a sick sense of gratification at the blank look on Naruto's face.

"That's alright!" Naruto giggled, "I already have a job, I'm really good at being tidy and I'll be asleep by seven thirty anyway!" Sasuke was shocked at his enthusiasm. With a huff and a "whatever loser" Sasuke retreated again up the stairs to his room with Naruto following closely behind him.

"So where's my room?" Naruto asked as he darted ahead of Sasuke opening door after door and peeking inside to make sure there wasn't a huge _welcome Naruto_ sign on the far wall in anticipation of his arrival. Grumbling a string of curses Sasuke ignored him and slowly disappeared into his own room.

"None of any of these are made up for a guest, what gives?" Naruto whined and pouted, stamping his foot on the floor. Suddenly his eyes darted to the right as did he. He yanked on the doorknob but it wouldn't budge an inch, "Hey Sasuke, what's in this one?! Why is the door locked?"

In curiosity Sasuke peeked out the door to see Naruto yanking erratically at his brother's bedroom door.

Sasuke suddenly froze, the fearful feeling that he was going to vomit rose up in his stomach. He slammed his own door open and grabbed Naruto by the collar, throwing him against the wall while at the same time correcting the wrong he'd done by tugging the door completely shut again. He shakily removed his hand from the knob before slowly turning from the door to Naruto as he picked himself up off the ground.

"Never come up here again."

"But this is the only floor with rooms on it –"

"NEVER!" Sasuke roared. No more was said as Naruto scurried back down the stairs to his room which was a term indeterminately confined to the living room.

A moment after watching him leave Sasuke realized that he was still standing there, so close to the room. He stumbled back, suddenly becoming more aware than ever before of its existence, but why now? He passed the room each day to get to his own and hardly gave it a second glance but now, as his heart raced out of control in his chest, the room was more terrifying to him than his brother had ever been. It was the memory of him living right next door, a murderer, a madman living not even twenty feet away from where Sasuke lay down to sleep every night. He could almost hear it, the creaking of the floorboards, the enraptured laugh hovering on the very edge of his consciousness…

"There's someone else in the house now," Sasuke whispered, "I'm only nervous because I'm used to living alone, there's nothing else going on, there's nothing to be afraid of." He gave the door one more tug shut before retiring to bed.

He threw the blankets off only to get up a moment later to retrieve them; one minute he was sleeping soundly, the next flailing and tossing as though on a hot summer night when he could never find the little cool bit on the mattress he needed to go to sleep.

Sasuke's eyes shot open suddenly, he sighed. "This isn't working." He threw the covers off himself and pulled a shirt over his head before creeping down the stairs to make some tea.

_Idiot's probably still up watching TV, I hope he didn't get into the fridge._

Sasuke poked his head around the corner of the stairwell to see Naruto all sprawled out on the couch, pencil in hand, and a myriad of papers covering him and the floor.

_Homework?_ Sasuke thought. He slowly made his way to the kitchen, annoyed that he now had to be extremely quiet in his own house, and retrieved a couple of bags of chai tea from the pantry and setting the water to boil. He figured if it was him staying over at Naruto's house it would be completely inappropriate for him to snoop around in Naruto's things, but that wasn't the situation. While his tea was getting on Sasuke snuck across the room and picked up several of the papers littering the floor around the sleeping blonde.

"This is… Calculus!" Sasuke whispered as his eyes darted back and forth across the page. Every answer was right; every bloody answer of the assignment was spot on. Sasuke was in Calculus too, but he'd had to get help from the teacher in order to finish it and even then Naruto had written some down that were different that his, and they were right.

Sasuke set the papers back where he found them and turned back to the kitchen. It didn't matter if Naruto was smart; he was still an unwelcome guest. A green blanket and throw pillow across one of the chairs caught Sasuke's eye.

_If this was a shojo manga, I would just now realize that Naruto's a good person and thrown that blanket over him out of sympathy._ Sasuke scoffed at his own thought and returned from the kitchen a moment later with his tea. He gathered all of Naruto's papers up in piles corresponding with the class they were for and emptied half of his tea mug over the top of them.

He sneered victoriously at the sleeping form across his couch.

"But this isn't a story, its reality, and reality is a bitch."

_Damn! Sasuke's mean! Please review and tell me how I'm doing, I'm not so sure about this story so I kind of don't really want to take the time to write the rest of it… but I won't stop now!_


	3. Chapter 3: Pushed Away

_Hi, so I decided to do my best and continue this story! I just wanted to say that I'm a pretty open minded person and have nothing against anybody, I like to stay away from arguments and yelling gives me really bad anxiety, oh, and I __**hate**__ the word 'fag' I only use it here because I've heard it used in the same context and it fits the story-line… sorry if I've offended anyone._

Chapter 3: Pushed Away

"My homework, what happened to my homework?!" Sasuke groaned and quite literally rolled out of bed at the sound of Naruto banging on his bedroom door, "Sasuke! What did you do?!"

"I am so glad I bought those locks." Sasuke mumbled. While rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, Sasuke stumbled to his closet to find his uniform. "Maybe you drooled on it?" he called.

"There's flippin' tea spilled all over the table!" Naruto bellowed.

"Oh, that couldn't have been me," Sasuke stated calmly, "I don't drink tea."

"You did it! Apologize!"

Sasuke smirked, "Prove it."

"You're the only other person in the house!" Naruto grabbed onto the doorknob in a last pitched attempt to get the door open. Sasuke slowly crossed the room after he had his things gathered and unlocked the door, causing Naruto to stumble back at the sudden lack of resistance.

Sasuke was surprised to see that Naruto wasn't angry; he just looked at Sasuke, a forlorn look on his face.

"Sasuke, why do you hate me so much?" he asked.

"Because you're a dumbass."

Sasuke walked past Naruto and down the stairs to see that breakfast had been made, the fireplace lit and Sasuke's tea from the night before had been cleaned up. Naruto's homework, new and without a tea stain to be found, lay in neat piles on the table.

"I always make an extra copy of my homework, it gets destroyed a lot."

"Smart kid." Sasuke said. He then picked them up and tossed them in the fireplace to burn. On his way out the door Sasuke grabbed a plate of the eggs Naruto had made and swung the door open. The porcelain plate fell out of Sasuke's hand and shattered on the floor.

_Another one?!_

Before him stood Sakura Haruno, the pink haired prima gossip who wore full stage makeup and a variation of the school's uniform that couldn't even be worn on the pole.

"Good morning Sasuke!" she squealed, "I heard Naruto found a new place to live and I just wanted to see how things were going!

_Bullshit._ Sasuke thought. He averted his eyes and walked past her, Sakura and Naruto didn't waste any time in following closely behind him.

_I wonder if it would be alright if I just killed myself now._ Sasuke thought.

"Sasuke Uchiha, please."

Sasuke looked up from carving his wood desk when a small mousey member of the student council poked his head through the door.

"Sasuke, you are to report to the office immediately… please." The teacher didn't say anything but returned to her lesson, they were all so used to Sasuke having to leave in the middle of class no one really paid attention when he slunk out of the room. No one but Naruto that is.

"Why does the principal want to see me?" Sasuke asked as soon as he and the mousey kid got far enough away from the classroom, "I haven't done anything."

"It's not the principal of the school who wants to see you; it's the student body president."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "I think I can distinguish between Principal Tsunade and Principal Kabuto; Tsunade never sends a student."

The two round the corner to the courtyard behind the baseball field where student body president Kabuto, the officers and delegates were all waiting for him. They all wore their uniforms well and wore thick glasses and unpopular hairstyles.

_Just by looking at them no one would ever be able to tell that these guys are dirty politicians._

"Uchiha," kabuto greeted him, "I heard just the other day that you've got Uzumaki living in your house."

"Yea, that's right," Sasuke affirmed, "Tsunade said it was either him of eventual expulsion… I'd rather be expelled."

"I'm surprised you haven't kicked him out yet."

"Yea, I might as well do it soon too, that idiot's nothing but trouble!" Sasuke joined in their mocking of Naruto happily until Kabuto spoke up again.

"No, no, no, no, no. I don't think that's it." Kabuto crossed his arms over his chest, "I think that, maybe, you're just getting soft in your old age. Perhaps that ordeal with your brother changed you more than we thought, or maybe you're lurin' him in so you can try _your_ hand at killin' someone? Or maybe it's just because you're a dick lovin' fag?" Kabuto was prepared to say more but Sasuke's fist slammed into his mouth, making Kabuto's first priority not choking on the teeth he'd just lost.

Immediately the delegates and officers of the student body surround Sasuke and pinned him down. Sasuke gasped in pain as someone's heel dug into his stomach and a fist met with the side of his head. He kept his mouth and eyes clamped shut. An Uchiha didn't scream or beg for mercy, an Uchiha endured and if Sasuke could just endure this beating he would be alright. Everything would be alright.

"Miss Mitirashi? Can I go to the bathroom?"

Anko Mitirashi frowned and shook her head, "Naruto, this is English class where we are learning to use speech _properly_. It should be 'Miss Mitirashi _may_ I use the _restroom_.'"

"Yea, whatever, that." Naruto retorted. Miss Mitirashi sighed and nodded. Naruto rushed out of the room and down the hall. This was no bathroom break.

"He's been gone way too long to be in the office, he couldn't be, Principal Tsunade always uses the intercom to call people." The first place he checked was the bathroom thinking that perhaps Sasuke was taking a break to play PSP or something, but he wasn't there. With no luck anywhere else he roamed the halls for the better part of an hour.

"Well, I'm not going to find him," Naruto's shoulders dropped, he hated giving up but he couldn't skip the rest of his classes to look for Sasuke, besides, he probably just went home to ditch him. Naruto headed to the bathroom closest to the classroom, the first place he'd checked; he had asked for a bathroom break, it would be rude if he didn't use it.

Naruto paused as he was about to open the door of a bathroom stall, he could have sworn he'd heard someone groan. Naruto edged towards the origin of the noise, the handicapped stall on the end. Gingerly, he put his hand on the door which swung right open since it hadn't been locked. He didn't look right away just in case this person was sitting down.

"A-are you alright?" Naruto asked sheepishly. For a moment there was no answer.

"Go… away."

"Sasuke?!" Naruto slammed the door in and paused in the door for a moment in shock at the sight of Sasuke. He had a blood soaked wad of toilet paper pressed to the left side of his face, both of his eyes were swollen shut and his other arm was wrapped tightly around his stomach. He tried to stand up when he saw Naruto but slumped back onto the toilet seat wheezing, already out of breath. Naruto had overlooked the handicapped stall the first time he checked the bathroom; Sasuke had been there the whole time.

Without a moment of hesitation Naruto scooped Sasuke up in his arms, he had expected Sasuke to be upset, maybe hit him or swear but as Naruto looked down at Sasuke's face he saw that Sasuke's eyes had already closed. As Naruto sprinted down the winding halls of the school he had but one thought on his mind.

_Please don't die._

Sasuke grit his teeth together to keep from screaming as pain surged through every inch of his body. He kept his eyes closed and his mouth shut still, he wasn't being hit anymore but there was still the pain to endure. His ears perked up at the sound of someone's voice rather close by. It was Naruto. He was on the phone talking to someone, Sakura maybe?

"No, he's alright. One broken bone, nothing popped or bruised internally though one did have a little knife, he'll be back to school by Monday, I promise. Yea, yea, okay." Sasuke felt his side and winced, realizing that the pain there had been caused by a small pocket knife. He dared not move his leg which he _knew_ was broken.

_And all because I knocked a few of their leader's teeth out, sensitive lot they are._

"Me too… I wish Sasuke would stop being so proud and let someone help him, I just can't see what's going on…" Naruto trailed off in the middle of his sentence, "right, bye Sakura, I'll talk to you tomorrow."

Sasuke froze for a moment in surprise at Naruto's willingness to help him and then scoffed.

_Did you ever think that the reason why you don't see something bad is because there's nothing there? Dumbass._


	4. Chapter 4: Door Slammed Shut

_Well, hello there! I haven't seen you in a while! Anyway, that's enough chit-chat; let's get back to the story. Please enjoy and review!_

Chapter 5: Door Slammed Shut

"C'mon, it's just one day skipping school, no one's gonna care, they'll understand!" Naruto jogged down the street behind Sasuke who hobbled along on one crutch with his backpack over his other shoulder. His wounds were still fresh; a weekend wasn't enough to make them better.

"I shouldn't have to explain this to you," he growled at the blonde, "if I don't go to school they'll just come to my house and "ask" me why I didn't come to school…"

Sasuke's head snapped to the side to glare at Naruto. "Why are you helping me?"

Naruto carefully took Sasuke's backpack off of his shoulder and threw it over his so that he was carrying both.

"Because you're a dumbass." He parroted. "Sasuke, just turn around and go back home, no one's going to come to the house and you'll feel much better tomorrow." Sasuke sighed and shook his head but maneuvered back around and let Naruto lead him back home.

Sasuke sat on the couch in a huff with a mug of chai tea in his hand when Naruto came in with the last of the board games he could find in the house.

"What are we going to do then?" Sasuke asked. Naruto sat on the floor on the other side of the coffee table, leaning his head on the edge of the table.

"I don't know, I thought we'd just hang out, maybe get to know each other since we'll still be roommates for five months."

"No." Sasuke tried to stand up and leave but just as he put weight on his injured leg it buckled and he fell back down.

"You couldn't get away if you wanted to." Naruto chuckled.

Videogames, board games, television, movies, conversation, all sorts of tortures Sasuke was subjected to. He listened to Naruto and the blonde listened to him.

Sasuke looked over at the couch where Naruto lay sleeping; he dozed out in the middle of Iron Man at eleven o' clock at night. Sasuke switched the TV off and got up slowly both to keep his leg from hurting and to keep from waking Naruto up. Sasuke smiled at his successful efforts once he got to the stairs, he'd been quiet so Naruto wouldn't be tired in the morning.

_No, I just don't want to have to talk to that loud guy anymore if I wake him up._ Sasuke shook his head until any kind thoughts were gone, _I must be really tired_, he thought.

Suddenly his foot caught on the stair, Sasuke reached out and caught the rail to support himself. It was a close call but he eventually made it up the stairs. He hurried down the hall to his room and tore his shirt from his body to see that his side was bleeding again. To make sure that nothing else was wrong he removed the rest of his clothing.

There were bruises covering his head, face, and arms. His femur was still fractured and of course the small knife cut in his side was bleeding in addition to the fact that his muscles were sore all over. After patching up his side Sasuke collapsed onto his bed, he stared straight ahead at the ceiling. He thought back to Friday when Naruto may or may not have saved his life.

"Let someone help me huh?" Sasuke's eyes blurred over until hot tears spilled silently out the corners, "If I did that… if I did that I'd have to tell them everything. I couldn't do that."

Suddenly Sasuke raked his arm across his face, ridding himself of the tears. He frowned. "Why should I let that guy change me at all? I just need to survive until he's moved out, I like being alone anyway," Sasuke smiled softly and rolled onto his side, wincing at the pain, "when I'm alone no one can hurt me, no one can make fun of me." He tossed onto his back and threw his arms up in the air.

"My paradise is the dark and the night, anyone else who tries to get is nothing but a spark. An extinguishable light trying to disrupt my dark paradise."


	5. Chapter 5: Twisted Delusions

_Hi there, I'd just like to say that in no way do I condone hurting one's self or anyone else. Live long and prosper I always say… oh wait…_

Chapter 5: Twisted Delusions

Sasuke hobbled with much difficulty off to school with Naruto walking patiently beside him. All he had to worry about was accidentally dropping his crutch; Naruto wouldn't let him carry his own bag or even his lunch or tea.

"I told you not to wait for me to walk to school; I'll get there when I get there." Sasuke hissed.

"It's alright; I'd rather walk with you anyway…"

"Fine," Sasuke looked around for a moment, "if we go the normal way we'll just be later, if you insist on walking me to school every day lets at least take the short cut." Sasuke led Naruto to a small alley which came out on the other side right next to the school.

"Are you sure we should go in there Sasuke?" Naruto asked timidly but Sasuke was already on his way, calling over his shoulder.

"It's perfectly safe!" suddenly Sasuke's crutch dropped from under his arm and he went toppling to the ground.

"Perfectly safe for anyone but you." Sasuke looked up in horror to see Kabuto standing above him with several student body delegates. His first reaction was to call for Naruto but there was no need. The blonde sunk his fist into Kabuto's stomach as hard as he could, sending him sprawling to the ground.

Naruto turned to the delegates, fists balled at his sides and his entire body shaking in pure fury, "Anyone else want to try and hurt my friend?!" he roared, he became even angrier when no one answered, "you cowards wouldn't know what to do in a real fight! Using your power to beat people up isn't part of the job description of a student body council member!"

Naruto stooped down to help Sasuke up and hand him back his crutch. He glanced over his shoulder as he and Sasuke walked away.

"You lot come near him again and I'll rip your fucking throats out."

"You didn't have to do that," Sasuke whispered as he and Naruto weaved through the throngs of students in the halls in order to reach their lockers, "I mean you shouldn't get involved in other people's business."

"My friends' business is my business." Naruto said. Sasuke left it alone after that, he could tell that Naruto was still mad about earlier. Sasuke peered through the crowd to their lockers where he saw Kiba and Ino waiting there for Naruto.

"Yeeek! Oh my god! Good morning Sasuke!" the girl yelled over the crowd. Sasuke scowled and ignored her to open his locker. He couldn't help but notice that Kiba was glaring at him.

"What's up man? You're late for lunch!" Kiba exclaimed.

"We took a bit of a detour." Naruto stated while glaring at the books in his locker.

Sasuke suddenly slammed his locker shut, nearly catching Ino's fingers in the door. "C'mon Naruto, we need to get to class."

"What's wrong Sasuke?" Ino squealed, "Are you hurt anywhere?!" she hugged his arm, "'Cause I'm really good at making things better."

Sasuke scowled and shook her off. He noticed that Kiba look like he was about to knock him to the floor but of course wouldn't punch an injured man. Naruto put a hand on Ino's shoulder.

"He's not hurt badly, he just needs rest. I think we'll go home early today –"

"Isn't that kinda gay?" Kiba interrupted, the others turned to look at him, Naruto frowned, "Living with another guy I mean, what do you guys _do_ all day anyway?" he laughed and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "You go on dates or something?"

Sasuke's books clattered to the ground and he turned and walked away.

"You idiot," Naruto spat to Kiba, "you didn't have to do that, he doesn't want anything to do with Ino." Then he took off into the crowd after Sasuke.

"Come out of the stall alright? He didn't mean anything by it, he's just jealous because his girlfriend likes you more." Naruto had jammed the door to the men's bathroom so that no one else could come in and a good thing too because Naruto was sure he'd heard a few strangled sobs from behind the stall door.

Suddenly the door creaked open a bit, enough for Sasuke and Naruto to see each other.

"I'll be alright, if you could just go away…"

"No." Naruto forced the door open more and stepped inside, "Friends don't desert friends, and if that doesn't work… I want to be more than that."

Sasuke gasped as Naruto's lips crashed into his, Sasuke was pressed firmly against the bathroom wall with Naruto's hand behind the back of his head to keep him from hitting his bruise on the wall. As their lips moved together, though, Sasuke stayed completely still, eyes wide open. Terrified. His arms jerked away from his sides to push Naruto away before he disappeared out the door.

Sasuke looked at the clock on his nightstand; the time read two forty five. Naruto would be home soon. Sasuke reached a hand up to his chest and gripped the fabric of his shirt just above his heart.

"I'm so lonely," he mumbled, "why am I so lonely? There's something wrong with me…" there was something, something that he just couldn't put his finger on that was eating away at his insides and leaving nothing but an animated shell in its wake. He _knew_ he was a burden to the people around him. That they simply put on a face of delight when he was around to appease him. He was _sure_ there would never be a place for him in this world.

"Naruto must hate me." He threw his arm over his eyes in an attempt to stop seeing the blonde's face and then plugged his ears to keep out the words and ideas from running through his mind to no avail. To joke with someone like that, someone who is obviously in some way unstable takes either a lot of guts or a lot of hatred.

_The kiss was a joke; it couldn't have been real because everyone else is cold hearted, empty minded trash!_

Sasuke sat up suddenly and grabbed his house keys from the nightstand before darting downstairs and locking the doors. All of them. He then went back upstairs to the bathroom where he removed a single tile in the wall in which rested a small stash of razor blades. He picked one up and examined it.

"I know I said I would stop." He said to no one in particular, unable to see the consequences or the future at all, "But this is a special circumstance, I won't do it anymore after this… I promise." Sasuke sat down on the edge of the tub and closed his eyes.

Naruto arrived home as early as possible from school to find that Sasuke had locked all the doors.

"Figured as much," Naruto muttered as he pulled a spare key out of his pocket, "he'd kill me if he found out I had another key made."

Naruto sighed and walked in, took his shoes off, and threw their bags on the couch.

"Sasuke? I'm home!" he called then thumped himself in the forehead. No duh! Sasuke wouldn't want to talk to him after the day's… events. For all naruto knew sasuke was staying somewhere else right now and he had the whole house for himself but a crash from the second floor told him otherwise.

"Sasuke?!" Naruto rushed the stairs and paused, "He said I wasn't supposed to go upstairs anymore, what do I do? What do I do?" his eyes darted to the phone. The police? Sasuke wouldn't like that… "Oh fuck it!"

Naruto stormed up the stairs. He wrenched open the first room he came to only to pause and take a step back at what he saw.

The room was caked in dust, bed sheets and books and personal belongings remained completely untouched. This was Sasuke's brother's room. The room he hadn't wanted anyone to enter. Of course Naruto had heard the stories of what happened to Sasuke's family all those years ago, how could he not? An entire family was massacred in one night by one insane son, leaving one survivor, the scared and defeated little brother.

Naruto stared at a large black spot on the white carpet. Blood, it was blood. Naruto didn't know whose blood but it was either Sasuke's or the unfortunate family member who had been Itachi's first victim. Naruto gulped at the heavy feeling in the room, he knew it was cliché but the space felt like death. Insanity, and hell, and depression, and sorrow, and death.

He slowly backed out of the room, closing the door completely by him and rushing next door to Sasuke's room and wrenched the door open, but he wasn't there. For a moment Naruto was stumped, maybe something just fell off a shelf somewhere on the second floor, or a bird hit a window or something. Naruto shrugged and headed to the bathroom.

"I'll call him later after he's had some time to cool down." Naruto tugged the bathroom door but it didn't open, trying again with the same result. "He locked the bathroom shut?" Naruto stooped down to peer through the keyhole, glad that older houses had such things, "Why in the world would he... do… that…" his sentence trailed off as his eyes lay on a puddle of blood and a head of spikey black hair.


	6. Chapter 6: The Match Lit

_Ohaithere! Please review and let me know how I'm doing._

Chapter 6: The Match Lit

"How could you _not_ _think_ about the people around you when you decided to fucking off yourself?!" Naruto shouted, "Do you have any idea what I would have done? Because I don't!" Sasuke winced at the tone of his voice and looked away as big salty tears began to spill out of his eyes. Naruto paused and sat down in the chair next to Sasuke's hospital bed and took his hands and held them.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to yell at you I just… I don't know what I would do without you around." Sasuke whimpered a bit as he tried to hold back his crying. "I asked Principal Tsunade that day. I asked her if I could stay at your house specifically, not just because I wanted to help either. I really like you Sasuke."

"There's nothing wrong with me." Sasuke croaked. At hearing this Naruto dropped his hands and stood up again, knocking his chair to the ground.

"Holy shit, how is there _not_?! You just tried to cut your damn hands off!"

Sasuke looked away again and shakily lifted a hand to cover his mouth. "I'm sorry," he cried, "I'm sorry."

"You know, Sasuke, I should leave right now. I should walk out those doors and never look back but I can't. Do you know why?" Sasuke shook his head weakly. Naruto then kneeled by the bed, looking up at Sasuke's face. "Because I love you Sasuke. I love you, I really, really do."

Sasuke closed his eyes and looked away. "Could you just go?"

Naruto, taken aback by the rejection, slowly stood and left the room without a word.

"Whaddaya mean he's missing?!"

"I don't know!" Sakura squealed from the other line, "He's just gone! The doctor took me up to his room and he _wasn't there_!"

"I'll be there in a minute!" Naruto slammed the phone down and darted out the door and ran all the way to the hospital. Shizune met him at the door.

"The last time anyone saw Sasuke Uchiha it was when the nurse checked his vitals this morning at three oh five." She said as they ran to Sasuke's room.

"How do you lose a patient?!" Naruto roared, "Don't you have cameras in the rooms?!" Naruto arrived to see Sakura crying over the bed Sasuke had been laying in. he gingerly placed a hand on her shoulder.

"You stay here just in case he comes back. I'll find him, I promise."

"He's not at Sakura's house, our house, school, the river, the great stone faces, or the ramen shop… where else would he want to be?!" Naruto slammed his fist into the nearest wall and kept on walking. Suddenly realization hit him; he stopped and ran back the other way.

There was no trail of blood to follow like in the movies but Naruto found him just as easily. Across the river from Sasuke's house was the Uchiha family cemetery.

Naruto hoisted himself up over the cement wall just enough so that he could see inside without anyone who was inside being able to see him. And there was Sasuke, seated in front of two identical grave markers, one bearing the name of Fugaku and the other, Mikoto.

Naruto leaned in closer, trying to hear what Sasuke was saying.

"I'm sorry I disappointed you with what I did. I know I'm a terrible person and a horrible son for being so weak but there must be something I can do, anything! I need help, I don't know where to go from here, I should just –"

"That's enough Sasuke," Naruto hopped off the wall, approached and helped Sasuke off the ground, "nobody thinks you're terrible for wanting help for yourself." He took Sasuke's hand in his own before averting his gaze to the grave markers.

"Mr. and Mrs. Uchiha, my name is Naruto Uzumaki and I love your son. It don't care if you don't wish him well. I'll pull him out of this thing no matter what it takes, no matter what I have to give. Even if he still doesn't want me I'll give my all, and that's that!"

Naruto stumbled to the side when Sasuke pulled him over into a hug.

"Me too." He said. "I think I love you too."


	7. Chapter 7: Painful Memories

_Ha! I'm nowhere near done yet! I've still got plenty of twisted issues up my sleeves. A lot of people both on and off the internet have said that I really take a long time to write and… well, that's true but it's nowhere near as bad as the people who do the original series who only release chapters of the manga once a week… I hate that… I take a long time so that I can do the best job possible, try to look at all the angles and provide you with the best that I can do and then some. Now that I'm done yapping, please enjoy and review!_

Chapter 7: Painful Memories

"Hurry up and open the door!"

"I'm trying, calm down." As soon as the door was unlocked Naruto and Sasuke toppled over each other onto the floor. Unlike the last time, Naruto placed his lips on top of Sasuke's softly, kissing him passionately as his hands wandered up Sasuke's shirt to his nipples.

Sasuke gasped and blushed when Naruto's hand brushed against him. Suddenly Sasuke's hands shot out to catch Naruto's shoulders and push him away, his eyes overflowed with tears.

"I'm sorry, I-I can't!" Sasuke darted up the stairs with Naruto following closely behind him. Sasuke shut the door and locked it.

Naruto sighed and knocked softly on the door. "Sasuke, come out. This is something we need to talk about." But there was no answer. Naruto sat down in front of the door, "Go to sleep Sasuke, I'll be here when you want to talk."

Sasuke groaned and rolled over, slapping his alarm clock when it went off and woke him up. He got out of bed and grabbed a shirt. He opened the door slightly to see Naruto dozing with his head rested on his fist in the same place he'd been all night, Sasuke smiled softly.

"Naruto?" the blonde started awake immediately and leapt up off the ground.

"Sasuke, are you alright?!" Sasuke nodded and smiled bigger.

"Yea, I think you were right, I do need to let someone in, and it might as well be someone I love because… I know you won't judge me." He opened the door for Naruto to come in, Sasuke sat at the head of his bed while Naruto sat at the foot.

"There are a lot of things that you don't know about me Naruto, things that I've never told anyone. The kinds of things that will probably disgust you and make you hate me." Sasuke lowered his head a bit, "Sorry."

"You really don't need to apologize, there's nothing that you could possibly say that could make me hate you." Naruto chuckled, "Listen. My parents were killed in front of my eyes when I was five years old and I was tossed around to all sorts of foster homes. I've seen everything from murders and thefts to rape before Tsunade and Sarutobi got ahold of me. Trust me Sasuke, nothing you could say could shock me." Sasuke looked up at the kind look on Naruto's face and nodded. He took a deep breath before beginning.

"When I was nine years old my older brother went mad and killed my entire family… I didn't find out until I was thirteen when… Itachi… was convicted of murder and escaped the city… I'd been living with a murderer for four years." Sasuke choked up for a moment, "Before… before my brother left he said that he'd kill me anytime I stepped out of line, did something he didn't like. And he, um, h-he made sure no one would ever want me again… get it?"

Naruto's eyes widened and his face paled before he nodded, "Y-yea." Sasuke blushed and whipped the tears from his eyes.

"Crazy psychotic bastard." He muttered, "He's the reason why it was so hard for me to let anyone get close, I don't want anyone to see that I'm scared. For the next four years I couldn't stop thinking that since we're related, my brother and I, am I like him? Have I got the same potential inside of me and just don't know it?" he made eye contact with Naruto, "Do I?"

Sasuke dropped his head to his hands where his whole body shook with fear. Naruto pulled him into a hug.

"No." he cooed soothingly, "I don't think you do."

Naruto tilted his head up so that he could kiss him.

"I have an idea," Naruto said as he smiled against Sasuke's lips, "let's go out and make a bunch of good memories together so you forget all about all the bad things that have happened."

Chapter Continued: One Last Secret

"Are you sure about this?" Sasuke asked nervously as he and Naruto stood just inside the doors of the lunch commons at school. Sasuke had never eaten lunch in the commons before; he'd always eaten in the hallway or the classroom of the teacher he'd gotten detention with.

Naruto covertly squeezed his hand and winked at him before leading Sasuke across the room to where Naruto and his friends sat every day. They're having lunch with the others to inch Sasuke into the world of the happy.

"Hi guys!" Naruto beamed, sitting down between Sakura and Sai while scooting over to make room for Sasuke to sit. Sasuke didn't talk much during the period but he was introduced to all of Naruto's friends and they seemed nice until…

"So, you still living together?" Kiba asked.

"What's it to you?" Naruto retorted

"Nothing, I was just thinking, maybe Uchiha tried to kill himself because you were moving out or something. He does seem like an emotional bitch like that."

Naruto stood up and grabbed Kiba's collar, pulling him across the table and several of the others' lunches.

"I really think you need to stop talking now, before something bad happens to you." Naruto hissed. He dropped Kiba back into his seat and turned to Sasuke. "C'mon sasuke, time for class… where'd Sasuke go?"

"He said he was going to the bathroom or something," Sai said, "honestly I was too busy looking at his ass to remember." Naruto took off out the doors immediately. He hadn't gotten too far when he saw Sasuke leaning against a wall with his arms crossed and a very grumpy look on his face.

"I shouldn't have to put up with that every day." He whined.

"No, you really shouldn't," said Naruto, "I've been meaning to talk to the others for a while to see if we can't kick him out… would you go back if he was gone?"

"I should be able to go back now." Sasuke said.

"That's why we're doing this, to make this kind of thing easier by degrees, right?" sasuke nodded and Naruto linked arms with him, "Let's just go home for the day alright? You're tired."

"I'm glad." Sasuke smiled as he and Naruto lounged on their bed, his head resting on Naruto's bicep.

"Why's that?" Naruto asked.

"Because you made me go through with it, you made me go in there and talk to people; I think some of them even like me too like that one guy, what's his name… Sai?"

Naruto laughed, "Yea he does!"

"The only thing is… Kiba keeps saying absurdly true things, what if the others start to believe him." Sasuke said, "What do we do then?"

"Well, then we 'come out of the closet' I guess." Sasuke wrinkled his nose in distaste.

"Isn't there anything else we can do other than that? Who knows what everyone else will think if we do that?"

"Two words," Naruto smiled, "_who cares_? How about this? I'll spring it on you when you least expect it so you have no time to deny or react."

"Urgh, fine." Sasuke rolled over and turned the light off but Sasuke couldn't sleep. It wasn't that it was their first time sharing a bed that shook him up but a small nagging thought at the very back of his mind that he should have told Naruto _everything_.

_Maybe I should have said something_, he thought, _even if Naruto leaves when he finds out, at least he'll be alive._ Sasuke peered through the darkness at the sleeping figure next to him.

"Don't betray me little brother, I'll kill you, and the other person, and anyone who gets in my way. Remember, I'll find you, I know everything, I'll find you." His brother's sing-songy voice resounded in his mind, causing him to shiver. He wasn't supposed to betray Itachi, and being with Naruto was a huge part of that.

_I won't say anything; it should be alright if I keep an eye out of anything weird. I'll protect him… no matter what._


	8. Chapter 8: Vacation

Chapter 8: Vacation

"Are you serious?! You've _never_ been on a school trip before?!" Naruto bellowed.

"Yes," Sasuke covered his ears, "that _is_ what I said."

It had never really occurred to him that going someplace for two days with the whole of his high school could be fun. Actually, it still didn't sound like fun. At all. That was just a bit larger of a people experience than Sasuke was ready to face. Huge crowds of the five hundred students attending their school and possibly someone else.

Sasuke shivered a bit, he really wanted to say something but knowing that Sasuke's psychotic brother was out to kill him could be too much for Naruto, the straw that breaks the camel's back so to say.

"Fine, I'll go." Sasuke finally caved. Naruto cheered and grabbed a couple of suitcases out of the closet then all the clothes out of Sasuke's dresser.

"Then let's get packing! We'll be staying at the beach for two days so two pairs of underwear, swim trunks, two shirts, two shorts, pajamas, got that Sasuke?"

He nodded as he carefully folded his things, Naruto simply stuffed his clothes away and, by the time he was done, there was no room for anything else while Sasuke at least had the room for a few souvenirs in his bag.

_What if Itachi really does know? Will he follow us, or does he even care? Will we… die?_ Sasuke opened his mouth to tell Naruto but the blonde leapt off the bed and ran downstairs with both their bags when he heard the horn of the school bus blaring outside. Sasuke got up slowly to follow. He would just have to keep watch the whole time, it wouldn't be much fun that way but at least he would know if something were to happen. He bounded out the door after Naruto and boarded the bus, gliding all the way to the very back row where Naruto was waiting for him.

It tooke three and a half hours to get to the beach from their house and one hour in Naruto was already asleep with his head leaning on Sasuke's shoulder. A bit of drool landed on Sasuke's arm.

"That's gross." He pushed Naruto's head off of him and looked out the window at the other cars rushing by, where were they going? He wondered, were they making the journey to the beach too, or heading to work or home from work? Suddenly a glint of something shiny caught his eye. Sasuke looked down and there, in the lane right next to the bus, ran a car, a small black Lincoln town car with a single thin red stripe down the side.

Sasuke went rigid as he peered through the tinted windows and saw the gleeful bloody red eyes of a killer. Itachi.

"Naruto!" he fitfully shook the blonde awake, "Look out the window, I saw! It was him, I swear to god!"

"Calm down, just take a deep breath," Naruto yawned as he removed Sasuke's clawed hands from his shoulders. He leaned over Sasuke to look out the window and smiled when he saw that there was nothing there, "it's just your imagination, your subconscious is trying to bring up your old memories to scare you. There's nothing there, everything's going to be fine."

Naruto pulled Sasuke over so that his head was resting on Naruto's shoulder. "Just go to sleep for a while okay? I'll wake you up when we get there." Sasuke assented and fell asleep with two bright red eyes hovering on the insides of his eyelids.

Trust activities, balancing challenges, tag tournament (which Sasuke won), swimming, an obstacle course, racing. By the time they were done with the school's pretense of group activities both Sasuke and Naruto were too tired to join the others in an exploration of the small seaside town, a good thing too, because in the midst of all that was going on Sasuke had failed to notice someone who wasn't supposed to be there.

"I'm going out to find some snacks, stay in the room alright?" Naruto locked the door behind him before wandering down the halls of the immense hotel looking for any sort of vending machine that had both Sasuke's and his favorite candies. Eventually he rounded the corner to see a small room with a single snack machine, someone was already at it, the man – who was wearing a dark coat with the hood pulled over his head – put a dollar in the machine only for it to spit the bill right back out. Naruto watched this several times before approaching the guy.

"Hey, if that thing's not working I can go get the manager if you want?"

"How could he have forsaken me for you?" the man mumbled. Naruto, not realizing that he should back away from someone shady in a hotel who talked to themselves, took a step forward and put a hand on the man's shoulder.

"Hey, are you alright? You look kinda –" Naruto was unable to finish his sentence as the man's dense forearm smacked him in the chest, knocking him to the ground.

"Hey! What gives?" but just as Naruto was about to get up and sock the guy back their eyes met, Naruto's bright blue eyes met with Itachi's consuming sharengan. The pinwheels in the older man's eyes turned back and forth from one way to the other. They were captivating and beautiful and insane. Naruto scrambled to his feet to make a break for the door but Itachi was quicker, the man dealt a swift kick to Naruto's side before hauling him back up onto his feet by the collar. Itachi slammed him against the wall.

Naruto yelped when the back of Itachi's hand brushed his cheek softly. It wasn't a hostile touch but still terrifying doubled with Itachi's wild eyes darting back and forth across the features of naruto's face and the knowledge of what he did to Sasuke. Naruto sunk back as far as he could into the wall as Itachi leaned in closer. Naruto's eyes screwed shut when itachi's bony hand snaked around his waist and slipped under the waistband of his pants. Itachi caressed his backside sensually as he laughed at the terrified look on Naruto's face. Naruto's eyes shot open when Itachi's lips brushed against his own before he paused and smiled and spoke.

"If you aren't careful, if you don't back off I'll do the same to you as I did to him…"

The sudden sound of water flowing in the tub woke Sasuke from his nap; Naruto had been gone a long time, so long in fact that Sasuke had fallen asleep. He rolled off the couch and stumbled his way to the bathroom door and pressed his ear to it.

"Naruto? Is that you? Why are you taking a bath now?" but there was no answer, "Naruto?!" Sasuke gripped the doorknob and jiggled it a bit, expecting for it to be locked, but it popped right open.

"Don't come in." Naruto's voice was small and hoarse, not quite scared but not quite angry.

Sasuke peeked around the corner to see Naruto sitting naked in the bath with the water beginning to run over the sides, and there he sat as Sasuke slowly crept up beside him. Naruto flinched when Sasuke touched his shoulder.

"N-Naruto?" he asked warily, "What's wrong." Naruto glanced up at Sasuke out of the corner of his eye before directing his gaze back towards the rippling water.

"I met your brother in the hall…" Sasuke visibly stiffened, his eyes swept across Naruto's trembling form, looking for any kind of injury. "He threatened to do to me the same thing he'd done to you."

Sasuke dropped to his knees on the linoleum next to the tub, unable to say a thing. He placed a hand on his chest, trying to catch his breath. He looked up at Naruto with slight tears in his eyes. "Did he?..."

"He didn't do it." Naruto reassured, "I get why you were so scared before, I just feel so… dirty now and he hardly even touch me."

Suddenly Sasuke darted up off his knees and wrapped his arms around Naruto's neck. "Thank god you're alright! We should get out of here as soon as possible, I'll pack the bags."

"No." Naruto ordered, "We're on vacation and we're going to stay on vacation whether Itachi's here or not."

"But he's here! In this building, how do you know that he won't just come in here and slit our throats while we're sleeping?!"

"I don't," Naruto retorted, running his fingers softly through Sasuke's hair to soothe his frayed nerves, "but I'm not going to let my fear of this guy run my life." He lifted himself up out of the bath and grabbed a towel. "Let's just forget all about it."


	9. Chapter 9: Reunion

Chapter 9: Reunion

"Why in the world would I want to go to a slide park?" Sasuke asked as he pulled his shirt over his head before attempting to tame the wild mess of black hair on his head. Naruto woke him up way too early that morning all to make the bus so they could go to a flipping slide park.

"Because you've never been to one!" Naruto yelled from the other room. He already had everything packed and put away in their suitcases, ready to go. He darted into the other room and grabbed Sasuke just as he got his pants on and dragged him out the door down the hall and into the lobby, paying extra careful attention to steer clear of the snack machine.

Sakura was waiting for them on the bus. She'd saved a seat at the very back for the both of them, when they sat down she latched onto Sasuke's arm, refusing to let go.

"Aren't you excited Sasuke? I never actually thought you'd come on a trip with us! Now we get to spend more time with you!" Sasuke sneered and tried to shake her off.

"Great…" he droned. Despite the fact that he was scared of seeing his brother's car again, Sasuke stared out the window the whole trip until he saw the mountain and six off white colored hemispherical tubes zig-zagging across the slopes. A deep frown spread on his face.

"That looks terrifying." The bus stopped and students filed out onto the lawn as Mr. Hatake slowly started laying out instructions. No hanky-panky on the slides, no eating unless you're at a picnic table, do not wander off or you'll get eaten by something, don't talk to strangers. Sasuke shuddered both at the last instruction and the fact that Mr. Hatake looked directly at him when he said that. Then the group dispersed.

Before Sakura could find them again Naruto dragged Sasuke to the small two person ski lift which would take them to the top of the mountain. Upon seeing how steep the lift was Sasuke caught the fence in his hand to keep Naruto from pulling him onto the lift.

"What's wrong?" Naruto was already buckling himself in, the only reason he hadn't gone was that the man who ran the life was waiting for Sasuke to take his seat. Sasuke looked up the mountain and then at the lift cables swaying in the breeze.

"It looks kind of flimsy…"

"Don't tell me you're afraid of heights, it's perfectly safe, I've come up here with Tsunade and Sarutobi before." Naruto teased, "I'll call Sakura and have her bring you a blindfold or something, I don't care what I have to do I'm getting you on those slides once."

Sasuke took a deep breath and took his seat on the lift; Naruto had to buckle him in since his hands shook too much. And then they were off. Naruto laughed and kicked his legs once they got into the air, causing the shuttle to rock back and forth. Sasuke gripped the guard rail and shut his eyes.

"Stop doing that!" Naruto paused immediately.

"Just don't look down and you'll be fine. The thing that helps me is looking at all the trees and everything beautiful around me and thinking 'if this thing falls now and I die I will have been satisfied with my life and if not, I'll be happy that I will have died knowing you.'" Of course, as though he'd commanded the opposite, Sasuke opened his eyes and looked straight down at the ground.

"I want to get down."

"I told you not to look." Naruto retorted. When they reached the top of the mountain they both got off the lift – or fell rather in Sasuke's case – to get their sliders. The small plastic boat-like structures had wheels on the bottom no steering and one brake pedal. Sasuke looked at the thing critically, then at Naruto.

The blonde winked at Sasuke before disappearing behind a shed, returning with a single slider, a two person slider. Sasuke got on the front of the slide and Naruto climbed on behind him before they set off on their first slide Sasuke turned around to scowl at Naruto.

"I'm gonna kill you for this."

"Sasuke, we can't go on another one, it's almost time to go. Mr. Hatake will get mad if we're late, he might even leave without us!" Sasuke shook his head and bounded towards the lift for one last slide. They'd been at the park for four hours already and, after the first slide, Sasuke didn't stop for a minute, the sliding was fun and he loved it.

"We've got five minutes! That's enough time for one more go! C'mon if you don't hurry up we _will_ be late getting back!" Naruto sighed and ran after him to get on the lift. About half way up Naruto glanced back at the parking lot and the busses at the crowds of their classmates getting ready to leave.

"Wow, I can hardly see anyone from way up here, I never realized we were so far away…" Naruto trailed off to listen to the slight twanging of the lift cord that held them up. His face paled as he turned around and grabbed Sasuke's shoulder. "Can you hear that?! The cord's moving!"

"Of course it's moving," Sasuke laughed, "it is windy up here so I'd be more worried if the cord _wasn't_ moving."

Naruto stiffened when the noise turned into a vibration down the entire length of the cord. He grabbed Sasuke's hand and gave him a sharp look. "I think there's something wrong…"

"It's nothing." Naruto looked relieved when the vibrating stopped.

Then the cord snapped and the lift fell into the brush beneath them.

Bright lights, white walls, comfortable bed, searing pain. Sasuke awoke to these things and more.

_I-I can't remember! _He thought, _I was on the lift, and it fell and I was with Naruto…. NARUTO!_

He immediately sat up only to collapse back onto the bed, his stomach was churning, his previously fractured leg was on fire and every other inch of his body hurt just as much. Sasuke painstakingly pushed himself into a sitting position to look around.

"Naruto?" he asked, but there was no one else there. In addition to the walls and the bed everything else was white even the door and the carpet. Sasuke shuddered, remembering his brother's room where he'd almost died from blood loss all those years ago; his blood that still stained the floor was something he'd never been able to bring himself to clean up. There was no machinery and no television; therefore, this was no hospital room. Despite the pain, Sasuke swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up. He tried to keep his fearful shaking under wraps as the door in front of him opened and his brother walked in, gleeful grin on his face, small dagger in his hand.

"I'm sorry Itachi," he forced his voice to not waver, "I should have paid more attention, I should have known better." Sasuke dropped to his knees, looking up at his brother. "If I wasn't so weak I wouldn't have to endanger anyone else's life." He attempted to wipe the tears from his face to no avail. Itachi frowned and chucked the dagger into Sasuke's shoulder, causing him to scream.

"Stop crying you fuckin' maggot! You're hurting my ears."

_Oh! Some grumpy business going on here! Well, sorry about the wait I was taking a bit of a vacation to take care of finals… I hate them… anyway, review please and thank you!_


	10. Chapter 10: The End of an Age

Chapter 10: The End of an Age

Sasuke stared into the brilliant red eyes of his brother who gazed absently back, like he wasn't all there, but there enough to kill Sasuke anytime he so desired. Tears suddenly re-erupted from Sasuke's eyes as he threw himself on the floor at his brother's feet.

"At least spare Naruto's life! He had nothing to do with this, everything was my choice! I lured him in, I made up my mind, he had no idea what he was getting into, it was all me! If you're going to kill me at least let him go!" Sasuke yelled when a supplementary dagger was plunged into the thigh of his good leg and twisted in the wound. Sasuke gripped his brother's hands around the dagger and tore it out, allowing a waterfall of blood to spill out onto the carpet.

"You're wrong," he sneered, "there's one thing you're little boyfriend forgot to tell you. He went in my room; you know how possessive I am of _my things_." Sasuke grit his teeth knowing that he should have done something more than just shoving stakes under the doors. He should have screwed the door shut or burned the entire house down. Sasuke glanced at the puddle of blood staining the carpet beneath him. Itachi smiled.

"You like the carpet color? I don't know about it… I wish it were a bit more _red_!" Itachi laughed at Sasuke who scrambled to get up off the floor, "Did you really think I would ever let you get away with this? No one who ever deals with me ever gets away with anything! The stolen car dealers, the bank robbers, the assassins, the fraud committers, no one lets any information slip or they die."

"Why can't you just leave me alone?!" Sasuke wailed.

"What can I say?" said Itachi as he stared straight through his little brother, "I'm just too good at being bad." Sasuke lifted a hand to his face to feel the cuts and bruises covering it, he wiped a small but steady stream of blood from his mouth before suddenly turning and vomiting. He gripped his stomach in pain and smeared the filth from his mouth. He heard the distinctive click of a gun and closed his eyes, not even bothering to look back at Itachi.

"If I die here at least I will have died knowing you…" he mumbled. Naruto was already dead is what he kept telling himself, he's not suffering in this place and in a few seconds I won't be either… _just don't tell me about Naruto, I won't be able to take it if you tell me he's dead!_

Sasuke flinched at the sound of gunfire but felt that no bullet had penetrated his skin. He waited and waited for the pain before finally opening his eyes and slowly turning around, his eyes widened at the sight in front of him.

Itachi was still standing there, a blank look on his face; he'd dropped his weapon to the floor and looked down to touch a small bloody spot in the middle of his abdomen. He looked up at Sasuke one last time before collapsing to his knees and then his face on the floor.

Behind Itachi's body there was a small splintered hole in the door which swung open to reveal Mr. Hatake kneeling in the doorway with a flashlight in one hand and holding a gun in the other.

Sasuke's eyes darted between Itachi's immobilized form and Mr. Hatake's face; he was stern, keeping his eyes on the body lest it get up and move again. His eyes hardly wavered when he barked orders to the other men behind him who Sasuke hadn't noticed before. How many people had come for him?

The others slowly lifted their hands in the air before laying their weapons down on the floor. Mr. Hatake – certain now that Itachi could no longer pose a serious threat to Sasuke's person – looked at Sasuke before slowly reaching behind his back to retrieve a small mauve wallet which he dropped open to reveal a small shining police badge

"Sasuke, I am a police officer who was placed undercover by your Principal Tsunade in order to keep an eye on you in case…" he glanced at Itachi's body, "in case this were to happen, but its over. You. Are. Safe."

Sasuke looked away from Itachi's body when a flare of yellow caught his eye, the next second he was sprawled on the floor in Naruto's arms.

"N-Naruto?!" Sasuke gripped the blonde's tanned arms as though he was making sure that he wasn't hallucinating, "What happened to you?"

"Who cares?!" Naruto tugged uncomfortably at the bloody bandage loosely fashioned around his neck, "You're safe!" Sasuke smiled and cupped Naruto's cheek in his hand as his eyelids closed.

"I'm glad… now I'll even get to die with you right here."

His eyes shut quickly and Naruto's voice faded into the background.

_Oh my GOD! I am so sorry for abandoning you for so long! My one week vacation turned into a month's ordeal and… well… whatever… imma finish this up quick so I can get on to the next one. Oh, so sorry. Review, yes?_


	11. Chapter 11: Recovery

Chapter 11: Recovery

Sasuke awoke in the hospital, though this time it wasn't his fault, and he _knew_ that he wasn't to blame. He immediately turned his head to the side to see Naruto and a nurse standing in the doorway talking about something or another, probably his care during his stay. When she saw that he was awake the nurse tore out of the conversation with Naruto to run fetch a doctor. Sasuke opened his mouth to ask what was wrong.

"Don't say anything." Naruto ordered, "They're still afraid your right lung could collapse." Sasuke tried to talk back but Naruto beat him to it.

"I know, you want to know what happened…" Naruto took a seat by Sasuke's hospital bed and wiggled his hand into Sasuke's, "It's been about three weeks. Itachi survived the bullet and was convicted of three hundred and twenty six counts of first degree murder last weekend. He was sentenced to life imprisonment but the second they tried to take him to the maximum security prison he threw himself in front of the transport, it killed him instantly." Sasuke grunted approval while wiping a single tear from his eye as acknowledgement of his final fallen family member.

"He was such a good… brother when we were… little…" he choked out between silent sobs and the pain in his chest. Naruto shot him a dirty look for speaking when he wasn't supposed to. Sasuke shut his mouth and waved his hand in the air as though to say "what else?"

"Graduation's coming up soon; you're walking with us since you've been 'doing your homework diligently' this whole time." Naruto winked since he'd been doing both Sasuke's and his own assignments, "And then there's the most important activity on the agenda: rest and recuperation."

Sasuke's brows furrowed as he acted out with his hands a question he'd been thinking about for a while.

"After we fell?" Naruto paused to think for a moment, "Are you sure you want to hear it?" Sasuke nodded erratically. Naruto sighed and removed the conspicuously placed scarf from his neck revealing a large, still healing, jagged scar from the very back of his neck to right next to his adam's apple.

"Simply put, I was left behind to die. I only survived because Sakura and Ino noticed we didn't show up to the bus and had Mr. Hatake and the park rangers looking for us." Naruto stopped speaking when Sasuke's heart rate shot through the roof causing the monitor to constantly beep which sounded like a flat line. The doctor who responded was grumpy at Naruto for upsetting his patient.

"When… can I go home?" Sasuke asked the doctor before he had the chance to leave. He checked the clipboard in his hand before nodding once.

"Since all your major injuries have set you can go home any time you like so long as you rest and do nothing strenuous. Minimal schooling and absolutely _no_ stress."

"What do you think about this one?" Naruto shoved another college brochure in Sasuke's face as they lay on the floor of the living room with hundreds of papers laid out in front of them. After getting home and having a serious talk with both Tsunade and Sarutobi the two figured out that with their grades and scholarships for being first generation college students as well as orphans they could go wherever they wanted for school. The problem, though, was picking one that they both liked.

Sasuke shook his head and shoved it away.

"I don't like any of the majors they have, nothing really seems interesting to me… I guess I never really thought of it before, what I want to do in the future…"

"Well, I've always wanted to be a psychologist." Said Naruto, "The trick to figuring out what you want to do is to take a bunch of things you really care about and choose a career based on that." Sasuke thought a moment.

"I want to be a police officer, more than anything, and help people like us." He looked at Naruto, "there's nothing else I would like to have as a career."

"Then this one would be perfect." Naruto smiled as he handed Sasuke a brochure covered in rolling green hills and shady trees. The hook, though, was that it was far away from home, so far away in fact that they could completely escape the events of the past.

_Kind of a rushed snippet of this chapter but what-can-ya-do, huh? Be back with the finale soon!_


	12. Chapter 12: The Beginning of an Era

Chapter 12: The Beginning of an Era

Sasuke was unhappy.

Unhappy because Naruto'd brought up out of the blue the subject of their senior prom. Again.

"I don't know what you want to do about it." Sasuke sneered, "It's not like we can go together, besides, what am _I_ gonna wear? A big ball gown and be your date?"

"I think that would be acceptable." Naruto grinned.

"No."

Naruto frowned and wrapped his arms around Sasuke's waist to pout. "I just want us to both go for the experience Sasuke. The _experience_!" Sasuke blushed at the slight moan in Naruto's voice.

"Fine," he growled, "I'll only go if we buy _separate_ tickets!"

That was two weeks ago. Since then Naruto had dragged Sasuke all over the city finding shoes and tuxes and boutonnieres and cuff-links and suit jackets. Frankly Sasuke was sick of it all. He leaned against the wall of the ball room that the prom committee (Sakura, Ino and Hinata) had rented for the school to hold its dance in, tapping his foot to the beat of the music as he watched the happy heterosexual couples twirl 'round and 'round on the dance floor.

Naruto had already conned him into taking official prom pictures with him and going to dinner with him before the actual event began but there was no way in hell he was getting him to dance... Sasuke's head turned to the side when Naruto came stumbling through the crowd with two small glasses of punch in his hands. He handed one to Sasuke, smiling.

"What do you think so far?" he asked as he sipped on his – no doubt spiked – punch.

"It's not as bad as I thought it would be," Sasuke admitted with a shrug of his shoulders, he winced at the small twinge of pain in his chest left over from their ordeal, "but it would be better if I could, I don't know… dance a bit?"

In a flash Naruto had taken his punch glass from him and set both of them on the tray of a passing waiter before circling around in front of Sasuke and bowing gentlemanly and offering his hand.

"Then, may I have this dance?"

Sasuke paused for a moment, letting his eyes sweep across the others in the room, some of which were already looking. He heard a couple of girls snicker and frowned at them.

_Oh fuck it,_ he thought, _it's not like we'll have to put up with them for any long period of time after this anyway._

"Yea, I guess so." He took Naruto's hand and the two twirled out onto the dance floor awkwardly, Naruto with his bandages and scarf wrapped thickly around his neck and Sasuke's leg still in a hard cast. But that didn't matter and neither did the people looking on in shock and distaste. It was only them, hand in hand turning slowly in the middle of the room. Sasuke smiled and laughed, leaving his previous inhibition behind for good.

In that pitch black ball room the only thing he could see were Naruto's shining eyes swaying in the dark, the happy future ahead of him and the spark that split the night.

_There we go. Another story dead and gone, please review and tell me what you liked, what you didn't like, and what you think I should do in the future. All suggestions will be taken into careful consideration._

_Thank you for joining me and partaking in the reading of Spark in the Night._


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